Open year–round for guided tours, The Mark Twain House (Samuel Clemens) attracts some 60,000 visitors annually. Visitors hail from more than 70 countries around the world. In addition, special programs about Twain’s writing, his family life, and the literary elite who lived in Connecticut during Twain’s time, including his Nook Farm neighbor, Harriet Beecher Stowe, are offered. (Note: The home is closed for a special event, the Annual Fall Gala on Nov. 7.)
Oh, for a time machine to go back to stroll the Nook Farm neighborhood – if only to see the architecture of the homes in the entire area. (Including a wiped-out area where the merchants and supporting employees, who kept the homes running, horses fed and curried, lived.)
Still, just walking the grounds, over to see Harriet Beecher Stowe’s home, and then back, gives a visitor the true feel of treading the same earth that authors and world luminaries enjoyed.
There’s much to see just from the outside, plenty inside the visitor center (at the rear of the properties), and a tour is something to savor.
There’s a model of the Mark Twain built from Legos to greet people near the gift shop (you can see it, free) – the latter is a great place to shop for holiday gifts, by the way. Connecticut residents may take the famous home for granted, but people in other places hardly know about its beauty.
A “Twain and Stowe’s Holiday Time Machine” on Nov. 21 and 22 in the museum center, in collaboration with the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, will allow visitors to enjoy traditional toys such as electric trains, doll houses, card and board games, marbles, toy soldiers, and blocks. Admission is $5 per person (free to ticket-holders for house tours).
Carriage rides will be operated by Blue Star Equiculture Burgundy Brook Farm of Palmer, Mass., which provides a rescue service for draft horses. Sharon Family Farm of Tolland, Conn., will operate the petting zoo (with alpacas, a mini-donkey, sheep, goats, lambs and bunnies). This event is sponsored by the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
The 29th Annual Holiday House Tour, run by the Friends of the Mark Twain House & Museum, will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6. Tour five elegant homes in Hartford and West Hartford, plus Mark Twain’s magical mansion – decorated for the holidays and featuring live music. Tickets are $30 in advance ($35 day of the tour).
The Mark Twain House & Museum Board of Trustees
Richard F. Ahles, retired, WFSB-TV, vice president news and public affairs
Thomas J. Anathan, managing director, UBS Realty Investors Marketing
Janet Arnheiter, president, Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum
Louise Bailey, supporter of the arts
Timothy Bannon, president-executive director, CT Housing Finance Authority
Gregory Boyko, senior vice president, international operations, Hartford Financial
Gregory Butler, senior vice president, Northeast Utilities
Edward Carrier, commercial real estate eveloper (retired)
Jocelyn Chadwick, director development discovery education; professor, Harvard University
Dede DeRosa, (president, board of trustees), CIO, Travelers Insurance Company
Brian Flaherty, director of public affairs, Nestle Waters
Marty Flanders, supporter of the arts
Charles Granquist, director of Pocantico programs, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Michael Grunberg, managing partner, Grunberg Realty
J. David Haddox, M.D., vice president risk management and health policy, Purdue Pharma
George Jamison, (vice president board of trustees), global communications recruiting, Spencer Stuart
Shaun Mathews, (vice president, board of trustees), president, ING mutual funds/investment
Duby McDowell, Duby McDowell Communications, LLC.
Katherine Metcalf, supporter of the arts
Dana Neves, news director, WFSB
Elsa Nunez, president, Eastern Connecticut State University
Cathryn Reynolds, associate, Robinson & Cole, LLP
Gregory Servodidio, attorney, Pullman & Comley, LLC
Noreen Shugrue, researcher, UConn Health Center, Center on Aging
Janel Simpson, assistant vice president, Life and Annuity, Phoenix Life
Andrew Sullivan, (treasurer, board of trustees), tax/business consultant
Karen Wheat, Wheat Associates, marketing consulting firm